Huge linear magnetoresistance due to open orbits in $\gamma$-PtBi$_2$.

Some single crystalline materials present an electrical resistivity which decreases between room temperature and low temperatures at zero magnetic field, as in a good metal, and switches to a nearly semiconducting-like behavior at low temperatures with the application of a magnetic field. Often, this is accompanied by a huge and non-saturating linear magnetoresistance which remains difficult to explain. Here we present a systematic study of the magnetoresistance in single crystal $\gamma$-PtBi$_2$. We observe that the angle between the magnetic field and the crystalline c-axis fundamentally changes the magnetoresistance, going from a saturating to a non-saturating magnetic field dependence. In between, there is one specific angle where the magnetoresistance is perfectly linear with the magnetic field. We show that the linear dependence of the non-saturating magnetoresistance is due to the formation of open orbits in the Fermi surface of $\gamma$-PtBi$_2$.